Because You Can't Look Back, Always Look Forward
by tiny.sakura
Summary: This is definitely not what she signed up for. Haruno Sakura thought she would be sent back to her own world, maybe in the past, but definitely not this. In which Hadou Sakura wakes up one day with two sets of memories and is a toddler with the most difficult "quirk" to explain. Thank Kami she still has her chakra and Inner is with her, even here. Katsuki/Sakura/Shouto.


**Full summary: **

**This is definitely not what she signed up for. Haruno Sakura thought she would be sent back to her own world, maybe in the past, but definitely not this. ****In which Hadou Sakura wakes up one day with two sets of memories and is a toddler with the most difficult "quirk" to explain. Thank Kami she still has her chakra and Inner is with her, even here. ****Nejire-nee-chan doesn't seem that bad either. But can she move on from her past without Naruto, Tsunade, and Ino by her side? ****Does it help that she remembers every jutsu she ever encountered? Or that she's still a Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest?**

* * *

A soft drum of thuds of what sounded like knocking on a wooden door slowly brought her to the surface of her thoughts. Medical tents didn't have doors, especially not wooden ones. The knocks became more rushed and almost impatient. "Five more minutes," Sakura felt herself mumble. Was she this tired after her run-in with Sasuke and Naruto?

Wait, that didn't sound right. Naruto hit her in the chest and Sasuke in the stomach. She was the only capable medic after Tsunade and Shizune to be able to perform the surgery. She knew damn well that she couldn't have performed the surgery on herself either. And isn't death what she wanted after the death of everyone? Where was she? This cot felt awfully plush for a medic cot amid war. It almost felt like Ino's expensive bed before the war. And… was that peaches she smelled? No, that couldn't be right. She only smelled of bleach and disinfectant as of late.

"Sakura-chaaan!" called a childish voice. Did they really let children come out to the middle of a war like this?

"Not too loud, my love," an older and softer voice followed. "Sakura-chan is sleeping."

The wooden door slammed open and Sakura found herself slightly bouncing up and down. Her eyes cracked open and found the person jumping on her bed (not cot- she noticed) was a young child, probably six years old, with periwinkle hair and blue eyes. What in the world was this?

Sakura groaned and turned her head to the side and found herself staring at a mirror. Pink hair and blue eyes stared back at her. That's… that's not right.

It hit her like a ton of bricks. Naruto, Ino, Tsunade, Hadou Nejire, Hadou Mitsuki, Hadou Izumi… She chose left.

Go right where nothing is left, or go left where nothing is right.

Was this what Inner had meant? Was this life what Inner had created for her?

She was three years old right now, the youngest daughter to both Hadou Mitsuki and Izumi and younger sister to Hadou Nejire. This world was much different than her world in the Elemental Nations. This world… it was bigger, more technologically advanced, there was no such thing as chakra in this world, but most people had things called "Quirks".

But, thank Kami, she still had her chakra.

Her eidetic memory from her old world now became photographic memory here. She had remembered every single jutsu she had ever encountered- but that didn't mean that she knew how to channel it.

The memories from both pasts assaulted her brain all at once. She saw Nejire showing off her Quirk to their family when she discovered it when she was five.

She saw her mother, Mitsuki, a soft and kind-hearted woman take care of her when she was sick- feeding her milk and honey jasmine tea when she was ill, tucking her into bed while she pretended to sleep so she could sneak out of her bed and into her nee-chan's right across the room, making her eat natto because it was her father's favorite food (and she should try it, at least once).

She saw her father, Izumi, loud and boisterous, making the worst dad jokes when they were forced to hear them while sitting in a contraption called a car, trying to teach Sakura how to catch a baseball but it knocked out a tooth instead, sneaking her and Nejire popsicles before dinner because they both gave him 'puppy eyes', burning noodles while trying to cook them because he didn't put enough water in the pot.

She saw her sister, Nejire-onee, discovering her quirk by accidentally pushing Sakura into the pool in the backyard with her wave motions then quickly jumping in to save her when Sakura was the only one who knew how to swim, poking her forehead with two fingers (which reminded her of a misplaced memory of Uchiha Sasuke and Itachi), doing exercises with Sakura who often had too much energy and needed to get rid of it claiming that it was more for Nejire who needed to build up stamina for her quirk, teaching her how to read and write and being surprised when she ended up reading more advanced stuff than her older sister, crying constantly because she claimed that 'imouto is just so cute I don't want anyone to kidnap her.'

All of these memories came down and hurt her brain with all of this information. Here, in this world, in a place called Japan, she had a loving family. Not like the one she grew up within Konoha, where her mother, Haruno Mebuki, disapproved greatly of her life choices and her father, Kizashi, never once taking her side. Or where she was kicked out of the house after the Wave mission because she wanted to continue being a ninja and they refused to call her theirs unless she gave it up and became the dancer her mother always wanted her to be.

That world… her old family wasn't what it was here. It wasn't supporting and nurturing, she didn't have parents where they would shoot down the idea of becoming a hero (or ninja in the Elemental Nations).

They were different here, where they supported their children and wanted them to chase any dream they had, where they loved and nurtured them. This family was what she had always dreamed of, the kind she read in her children's book and prayed that she could have them one day. This was what she wanted. Here she could become a hero- what Naruto has always wanted.

"Sakura-chan!" The childish voice, Nejire's voice called out again. She bent over Sakura's head and put her face close to hers.

Sakura turned her head to face upwards, towards her onee-chan's. "Onee-chan?" Her voice was childish here. Of course, she was only three in this world.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan," her mother's soft voice called from further in her room. Her periwinkle hair glistened in the sun rays that snuck through the closed blinds of the bedroom window. Mitsuki's soft brown eyes gazed over her precious daughters' bodies. She was always happy she had them with her in this world, she loved her family dearly. "We need to get ready for school, okay?"

Hadou Sakura groaned softly, "do I have to go?" Her request was useless, she was being bumped up to the next class since her birthday in this world had just passed. April first, how unfunny that was. She was reborn, reincarnated, given a second chance, yet, something felt so right about it.

Her father joked constantly that he thought that Mitsuki was pulling an April Fool's joke on him when she called him saying that she was having Sakura while he was at work. He only realized the truth when she screamed at him to hurry up as she never once raised her voice before. Nejire had been ecstatic about having a little sister. She was still ecstatic about having a little sister. She loved Sakura dearly.

"You have to, baby," soothing was probably the best word to use for their mother's voice.

"Good luck getting out of it, imouto!" Nejire laughed. It was such a loud and grating sound in the morning, but Sakura loved it regardless.

Sakura smiled at their little gathering in her room. Ever since Nejire was given her own room, the two missed spending time together like they used to. "Is my new teacher nice?" her curiosity got the best of her. She was a child again, and she had been curious regardless. It was a trait that ran in the Hado family.

"The nicest!" her nee-chan shouted back.

The small smile that graced her lips grew wider at her older sister's reply. Yes, this life could be something that she could look forward to.

"Okay then, I'll get up."

* * *

The car ride to her private daycare/Kindergarten for the two sisters was filled with horrible singing from her father and sister as well as some of Izumi's classic dad jokes. Izumi's petal pink hair was short and spiky while his bright blue eyes were filled with complete mirth regarding his two daughters. He always claimed they were the best things that ever happened to him. Their mother would always groan at that as she knew that he spoiled them rotten.

Hadou Sakura was finally old enough for the toddler classroom of their school which Nejire kept assuring her was amazing. "It's got a lot of stuff you can do, imouto!" She giggled to herself as if she was sharing some sort of secret, "The teachers are really nice too!" Nejire held both of her chubby thumbs up and sported a gap-toothed smile as she lost her top two front teeth three weeks ago during a football accident with their father.

"Will I have more stuff to read there?" Sakura asked curiously. Even in this life, Sakura was the biggest nerd.

Nejire rolled her blue eyes in exasperation. "You always read, Sakura-chan. You should be makin' more friends, ya know."

A baritone hum came from the driver's seat, "Nejire-chan does have a point, baby. You could learn new things by meeting new people." He giggled to himself, "you can probably learn more by making friends than by reading books."

Sakura scowled at the thought of learning more about things from toddlers and babies compared to textbooks. "That's not the point Tou-san!" Chubby arms crossed in front of her petite body, "books are the best and you can learn a lot from them."

Nejire looked over at her little sister from her own car seat and poked a puffed out cheek, "Sakura-chan, you have ta make friends. Otherwise, you'd be lonely."

Well, her sister had a point. Maybe she was so against this because no one would ever be her boys? No one would ever poke fun at her or give her a rivalry by calling her "Forehead" or "Billboard Brow." Of course, they wouldn't, no one would ever replace her Ino-Pig. But... could making friends for once, be that bad? She could never replace Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-shisou, and everyone else who made such an impact on her life. But, maybe, she could make room in her heart for new ones.

"Okay," it had come out softer and shakier than she had intended it to. "I'll try, Nee-chan, Tou-san." She could do this, right?

"You'll be fine, my little blossom."

"Yeah, imouto! You'll have fun and see cool things and play with new toys and sing new songs and meet cool friends!" Nejire's signature giggle followed her run-on sentence. "Aaaaand, maybe you'll make friends that are as cool as mine!" Periwinkle eyebrows wiggled at her sister jokingly.

"I'll make good friends!" Sakura cheered.

She had a lot of time to save the world and make her second chance worth it. She was only three, for Kami's sake!

* * *

**Thoughts and reviews welcome! I'm new to the cross-over world so please be kind!**

**-Tiny**


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